By Don Ketchum

Richard Helton, an assistant coach at Trevor Browne last season, has been named head coach at the west Phoenix school.

He is a former player at Glendale Community College and had freshman and junior-varsity coaching stints at Phoenix Sandra Day O’Connor, Goodyear Desert Edge and Surprise Valley Vista before coming to Trevor Browne, where he coached running backs and inside linebackers.

“I do have some familiarity with the players. We have a good group of young men coming back, including 17 seniors and 11 juniors,’’ said Helton, who replaces former coach Randy Gross.

“I’m very excited about what we’ve got. I’m in the process of putting a staff together.

“We’re looking forward to implementing the philosophy, and that includes the overall development of the student-athlete. We want to win games, but beyond high school is what we’re looking at.

“We want to build young men of character, who go on to become good fathers, husbands, employees and citizens.’’

That means leadership, and Helton plans to have a 20-hour class on that for upperclassmen.

Helton currently teaches law enforcement classes at Sunrise Mountain High in Peoria. He is hopeful that a teaching position will open up at Trevor Browne. He is qualified to teach several subjects.

“It is a lot easier to coach when you are on campus,’’ he said.

He will be the Bruins’ offensive coordinator and will hire a new defensive coordinator.

“We are going to be a very disciplined team that executes well and masters the fundamentals,’’ Helton said.